bradco vs Fae mulcher

   / bradco vs Fae mulcher #1  

yellowdogsvc

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Joined
Jul 5, 2007
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Location
S. Central TX Hill Country
Been looking to upgrade my Cat mulcher. I think I've narrowed it down to Bradco vs FAE or CAT HM 315 mulcher. Would still like to try a fecon but don't have a dealer in the area and that's important to me.

Anyone have experience with Bradco? I demo'd one a few years back but my machine was having issues with the hydraulics and it didn't show well.

I have run a Cat HM 312 for 7 years. It doesn' have the variable displacement motor. I'm trying to decide if a 26k purchase will get me enough of a production increase to justify the cost. I run a Bobcat s750 and can mulch beyond the machine's normal limits by using my experience and years of practice but I've only used single speed mulchers.

I like the idea of the low profile design. That's my biggest complaint with the FAE/Cat body style.. it's bulky.

Can anyone tell me about the cut with the Bradco/Magnum MM60? I know my Fae style leaves a fine mulch and the teeth last double and triple what I was told they would last.

Looking for someone who operates a bradco/magnum to offer insight. Does the bradco have a shear bar or wall of teeth for finer mulching or do the teeth do all the work? The Fae/Cat has a row of hardox teeth combs on the back and the door for reshredding.

Thanks for any input.
 
   / bradco vs Fae mulcher #2  
Yellowdog,
How are you my friend ? I am running the new FECON on my 299D and its and awesome mulcher. The New CAT 299D really can spin the crap out of it with super quick recovery. I like the mulcher and the new CAT really make a huge difference in my opinion....The bradco is big and bulky, but a solid performer...
 
   / bradco vs Fae mulcher
  • Thread Starter
#3  
I am well.. I've been interested in feedback on the new D series. I still miss aspects of my 272c and I see that Cat has made some big changes in the power plant and A/C design. Did you get the 40 gpm version? Glad you got into the new model. Always nice to have that new machine smell. :D

Looking at the specs, the fecon and bradco looked similar in size and profile. I thought my Cat mulcher was bulky which is one of two drawbacks I see with the FAE design. After almost 7 years with the Cat mulcher, I like to see it mulch closer to the ground and I wish the visibility/rollback/roll-forward was a little better.

My Bobcat dealer can't get me a demo on a Bobcat mulcher so I can't spend that kind of money without seeing first-hand how the mulcher does. Also, at $180 replacement cost per tooth, the principle of paying that much per tooth when Fecon's standard teeth are much less but won't fit Bobcat's drum, is hard to justify.
 
   / bradco vs Fae mulcher #4  
yellowdogsvc said:
Been looking to upgrade my Cat mulcher. I think I've narrowed it down to Bradco vs FAE or CAT HM 315 mulcher. Would still like to try a fecon but don't have a dealer in the area and that's important to me.

Anyone have experience with Bradco? I demo'd one a few years back but my machine was having issues with the hydraulics and it didn't show well.

I have run a Cat HM 312 for 7 years. It doesn' have the variable displacement motor. I'm trying to decide if a 26k purchase will get me enough of a production increase to justify the cost. I run a Bobcat s750 and can mulch beyond the machine's normal limits by using my experience and years of practice but I've only used single speed mulchers.

I like the idea of the low profile design. That's my biggest complaint with the FAE/Cat body style.. it's bulky.

Can anyone tell me about the cut with the Bradco/Magnum MM60? I know my Fae style leaves a fine mulch and the teeth last double and triple what I was told they would last.

Looking for someone who operates a bradco/magnum to offer insight. Does the bradco have a shear bar or wall of teeth for finer mulching or do the teeth do all the work? The Fae/Cat has a row of hardox teeth combs on the back and the door for reshredding.

Thanks for any input.

Replace the fixed displacement motor with a variable one. Stick with the FAE, it doesn't get any better.
 
   / bradco vs Fae mulcher #5  
My buddy bought a 297 with a bradco the same time I bought mine the only difference was I got the hm315 with my 297. We landed a job together one day he wanted to run my machine to see how the cat/fae compared to his bradco, so we switched for the day after the first ten minutes I was ready to switch back. The bradco doesn't hold a candle to the fae, the bradco just lost momentum so fast had to pretty much bounce the head in an out of the 6 inch pine so many times to keep from stalling the drum. With the fae just cut the top out and ease the head down an it would go to town. I noticed when I was running my machine my buddy seemed slow but after running his I quickly realized it wasn't his operating skills it was the bradco he was running my advice would be to stick with the fae!
 
   / bradco vs Fae mulcher #7  
I am running the BH85 SD on my New 299D............Sorry I left that little detail. out of my orginal post.....
 
   / bradco vs Fae mulcher #10  
Yellowdog if u like the bobcat head you can get teeth from quadco, they just came out with teeth for the bobcat/fecon head and asv/fecon head. Have chippers and carbides I bet the quadco carbides are alot cheaper an the best part is there double sided so you'll get twice the time out of them.
 
 
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